Cloth-winding machine



Feb. 11, 1930. c. G. RICHARDSON CLOTH WINDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 4,'1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 27871- .g giffm A Feb. 11, 1930. c. G.RXCHARDSON 1,747,143

CLOTH WINDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 4, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,Z/Zz/eZiZbn-A 16 4 W Patented Feb. 11, 1930 nears stares means PATT orria CHARLES G.RICHARDSON, OF SPRINGFIELD, VERMONT, ASSIGNOR TO PARKS & WOOL-- SONMACHINE COMPANY, OF SPRINGFIELD, VERMONT, A CORPORATION OF VER- MONTCLOTH-WINDING IVIACI-IINE Application filed February This inventionrelates to cloth winding machines, and particularly that class ofwinding machines that are frequently employed. for re-winding the clothfrom a round bolt or package into another.

As these machines have heretofore been constructed the windin and theunwinding elements and the tensioning devices were so arranged that theoperation of the machine involved much passing by the operator from oneside of the machine to the other both when threading or drawing thecloth into the machine preparatory to re-winding, as well as during there-winding operation itself, all of which consume time and increase thelabor of performing this operation.

The present invention is intended to obvi ate these long-standingobjections by providing a construction and arrangement of windingmachine that will permit the operator to readily thread in the cloth,preparatory to rewinding, and thereafter perform the re-windin andmeasuring operation, all from the front of the machine, while havingboth the unwinding and re-winding elements as. well as the clothmeasuring element always in plain sight when operating the machine.

With these objects in view the invention comprises first the combinationof unwinding and winding elements and of a measuring drum arranged in asubstantially vertical plane or order, combined with upper and lowertensioning devices arranged somewhat rearwardly in relation thereto, allbeing accessible to the operator from the front of the machine both forthreading in and rewinding. Secondly the invention consists in theconstruction and arrangement of the tensioning devices in such a manneras to permit them to oppose a yielding tensioning resistance to thecloth traveling over them, while normally being very responsive todifferences in tension in the cloth in order to equalize the tension ofthe cloth as it is being re-wound and measured.

These and other features of the invention will be more particularlyexplained in the following specification and will be defined in theclaims hereto annexed.

In the accompanying drawings Ihave il- 4, 1926. Serial No. 85,889.

lustrated a simple, compact and convenient embodiment containing mypresent improvements, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the complete machine set up forre-winding and measuring the cloth.

Figure 2 is a detail view showing, in their proper relative positions,the two adjustable bearing supports or elements for the unwinding andwinding elements.

Figure 3 is a detail view showing a plan view of these two adjustablebearing members in their assembled positions.

Figure 4 is a front elevation of the machine, the top part being omittedand the middle portion of the winding elements being out out to permit alarge scale of the details with which this invention is concerned.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail view showing the variable driving meansfor operating the machine at different speeds, according to thecharacter of the package being re-wound.

In the practice of the invention, according to the form illustrated, Iprovide two uprights or side frames 1, having at their upper endsforwardly projecting arms 1 affording bearing supports for the rotatablecloth-measuring drum 2, which is operatively connected by suitableconnections with the dial wheel 3, which indicates the yardage accordingto the number of revolutions or parts of revolutions of the'cloth-druminduced by the friction of the cloth traveling around the drum from theLin-winding element 8 to the windingelement 12 Such a measuring drum anddial being now wellknown in theart need no detailed description.

Theylower portions of the uprights 1, are joined together by a pair ofhorizontal crossrods 5 and 5 in the same vertical plane and by anadditional tie-rod 62 to the rearward of the tie-rod 5*.

At the upper portion of the frame there is an additional tie-rod 61.This arrangement leaves a very large opening throughout the middleportion of the machine between the uprights for a purpose presently tobe explained.

In the present embodiment of the machine the unwinding element, that is,the rotatable element supporting the cloth package for unwinding, islocated in the lower part of the machine and the rotatable windingelement for re-winding the cloth into another package is located at aconvenient distance above the unwinding element.

The unwinding element itself is of well known construction and embracesa pair of holding jaws 8 and 9, the former of which is hingedlyconnected, as shown at 8, to a collar fast on the rotatable shaft 7which is rotatably supported in a bearing arm or bracket secured to oneof the uprights 1, the object of the hinging being to permit thecore-board 9 which is swiveled to the hinged jaw 8 on the swivel pin 8to be released from the ri in 'aw 9 and swin about its aivot todisengage its left hand end from the clamping jaw 9 to allow the packageof cloth to he slipped on or off from the core-board. The clamping-jaw 9is itself mounted on a rotatable shaft 10 carried in the bearing box ofa forwardly projecting arm 6 of a slidable tail-bracket or carriage 6.

This tail-bracket or adjustable carriage comprises a. vertical arm 6",perforated to allow the cross-bars 5, 5 to pass through it so as topermit the bracket to be adjusted or slid along those cross-bars whichact as trackbars for the tail-carriage. The vertical member 6 of thisslidable bearing bracket has a lateral extension or arm 6 extending somedistance out beyond the adjacent side-frame 1, and the outer end of thisterminates in the forwardly projecting arm 6 carrying a hearing box forthe reception and support of the shaft 10 of the unwinding element.

It will be understood that bolts of cloth vary considerably in width,some being doubled along their middle longitudinal line and some piecesbeing single. Consequently different lengths of core-board, according tothe length of the bolt or width of the cloth, will he used as needed,thus requiring that the core-board supporting jaws 8 and 9 shall bemoved in closer together or extended farther apart. lVhile smallerextensions and contractions may be made through adjustments of thesupporting shafts 7 and 10, in their hearing boxes, yet it will beunderstood that any very extended adjustment in this way will fail toafford proper bearing support for the rotatable shaft since thebearingwill be located too far from the end at which the thrust orstrain is imposed. Moreover, the slidable tail-carriage or bracket, withits laterally and forwardly offset bearing member permits an extensionof the frame to accommodate exceptionally wide pieces of cloth, whilenormally allowing the frame to occupy much less space on the fioor forordinaryuses.

The winding element on which the cloth is rewound is of somewhat similarconstruction,

but it will be noted that the vertical arm 60 of its adjustable bearingbracket or tail-carrlage is very much elongated so as to extend from theupper cross-bar or track-bar 61, at

the upper part of the machine, to the lower cross-connecting track-bar62, near the bottom of the machine, thus leaving all the middle part ofthe machine open except for the obstruction afforded by the windingelement itself.

This slidable carriage 60 comprises the vertical member 60, the lateralor horizontal extension 60, which permits it to project be yond theadjacent side frame, and the forwardly extending arm 60, which bringsthe bearing for the tail-shaft 11 of the winding member above thecorresponding bearing on the unwinding element.

The hinged jaw 12 and the clamping jaw 12 of the winding element, aswell as the core-board 12, are similar in construction to that of theunwinding element.

The supporting shaft 13 of the hinged jaw 12 is the driving shaft of themachine and may be driven either by power or by hand, but in the presentmachine the hand drive is illustrated. This drive-shaft 13 is providedwith a longitudinal spline 13 which, as shown in Figure 5 in detail,receives a set screw 14$ carried by a thrust-collar 14, mounted on anelongated sleeve or hollow shaft member 14, into which the shaft 13telescopes to permit a moderate adjustment axially of the hinged jaw 12.V V

The sleeve or hollow shaft member 14 is rotatably mounted in a forwardlyprojecting arm 15 of a supporting bracket 15, and its outer end iscarried in a similar arm 15 of said bracket. An additional thrust collar14 prevents longitudinal displacement of the sleeve or hollow shaft 14.

To the outward extension 16 of this shaft 14 is secured a sprocket wheel17 having a projecting head 17, forming an arbor for the reception ofthe hub 20 of a hand-wheel 20 by which the shaft is rotated. The bracket15 has a forward horizontal extension 15, carrying a short stud or arbor18 for rotatably supporting a larger sprocket wheel 18, and a preciselysimilar arbor 19 for rotatably supporting an intermediate size ofsprocket wheel 19. A sprocket chain 17 passes around all three sprocketwheels. The driving wheel 20 is provided with a set screw 21, whichlooks it to any one of the arbors 17*, 18 or 19, to which it may beapplied by the operator.

It will be understood that some times the cloth is to be rewound into apackage on a rod or roll not much more than an inch in diameter, whilein other cases it may be wound on a bar 12 or 15 inches in diameter aswell as upon intermediate cores. In the former case it would be a veryslow and laborious operation for the operator to wind on a large pieceofcloth and to meet this situation he may shift his hand-wheel fromarbor 17 to arbor 18*, of the sprocket-wheel 18, which would beequivalent to multiplying the diameter of the core three-fold in thisparticular case. As the driving wheel is very quickly shifted from onesprocket to another this arrangement eiiects considerable economy oftime.

The tensioning devices for equalizing the tension on the cloth as hereconstructed 7 and arranged, are particularly advantageous since they arevery simple to operate and normally stand in a fixed position before thecloth is threaded through them, are very responsive to the variations inthe pull of the cloth against them and yet oppose an increasingresistance to displacement from normal position with substantialincrease in the tension of the cloth.

Although mounted in relatively reverse arrangements, the principle ofconstruction of both tension equalizers is the same.

The lower tension equalizer comprises a horizontal rock-shaft 30,carrying near its opposite ends projecting parallel arms 31 of equallength, in whose free ends are mounted a tensioning roller 32 adapted toengage and guide the cloth. The extensible tensiontransmitting link 35connects each arm 31 to the rear ends of horizontal pivoted levers 33.Tension springs 34 are connected to the forward ends of these arms 33 soas to exert the desired tension or pull upon the arms to bring thecenters 30, 30 and 35 into alignment. The alignment of these threecenters determines the normal position of the equalizer roll 32, yet theequalizer roll will respond very easily to slight differences in tensionbut will offer an increasing resistance as the roll is moved fartherfrom its normal position. This prevents jerks and perfectly accommodatesyielding tensions of the cloth.

In similar fashion the rock-shaft 40, mounted in the upper ends of theside-arms, carries two parallel arms 41, in whose free ends is mountedan equalizing roller 42. The swinging arms 41 are connected by means ofextensible links 45 with horizontal levers 43, whose rear ends areattached to contractile tensioning springs 44: having the same action asthe springs 34, already described. It will be seen the cloth-engagingdrum 2, which engages the stretch of cloth intermediate the two pivotalequalizers, acts to stabilize or steady this portion of the cloth in itsmovement through the machine, since it prevents the jerkiness orunevenness that would result from the equalizers sometimes pullingdirectly against each other and at other times relaxing simultaneouslytheir pull on the cloth as the equalizers are subjected to suddenstresses and relaxations owing to the eccentric form of the unwindingand rewinding cloth packages.

In practice the package or bolt of cloth to be rewound is placed in theunwind'er element in the lower portion of the machine, which is properlyadjusted according to the width of the cloth package to be inserted. Atthis time the upper rotatable or winding element is completely opened toallow access to the tension devices at the rear. The operator is,therefore, free to pass the free end of the cloth from the insertedpackage'around the tension roll 32, up over the measuring drum 2, at thetop of the machine, down around the tension roll 42, of the uppertei'isioning equalizer, and is then ready to attach the free end to thecore which is then inserted in the winding element. As the core pieceneed not be inserted in the winder element until the threading operationis completed, it will be seen that the operator has virtuallyunobstructed access to completely thread and set up the cloth in themachine. The hand wheel is then applied to the proper sprocket-wheel huband the unwinding and rewinding is efiected by rotation of the drivingwheel which can be accomplished in full view of the cloth-measuring dialand of both the unwinding and the winding elements, it being unnecessaryat any time for the operator to leave the front of the machine.

W hat I claim is:

1. In a cloth winding machine the combination with vertical side frameshaving upper and lower forwardly extending bearing arms, a pair ofcoacting winding board jaws rotatably mounted in the lower bearing armsto hold the unwinding bolt of cloth, a pair of winding board jawslocated in the upper bearing arms, a cloth engaging roll mounted inbearings at the top of said side frames, upper and lowercloth-tensioning members swingingly supported by said side frames andlocated rearwardly of the winding and un- -winding elements, whereby theunwinding and the winding elements and the tension devices areaccessible to the operator from the front of the frame for drawing apiece of cloth into the machine and rewinding it.

2. In a machine for rewinding cloth the combination of a rotatableunwinding element, a rotatable rewinding element and a cloth engagingdrum arranged in a substantially vertical series, and upper and lowerpivotally mounted cloth-tensioning members arranged one above the otherrearwardly of the winding and unwinding elements, whereby the cloth maybe drawn through the machine and afterward rewound by the operator fromthe front of the machine. j

3. In a machine for rewinding cloth, the combination of upright sideframes, a series of horizontal cross-bars connected to the upper andlower portions of the side frames to leave an unobstructed openingbetween the middle portions of the uprights for threading the cloth, theupper and lower slidable carriages mounted on said cross-bars to provideadjustable bearing supports, upper and lower cloth unwinding andrewinding elements rotatably supported in said adjustable bearingsupports, upper and lower cloth-tensioning members swingably supportedrearwardly of said elements, and a cloth-engaging and steadying memberarranged to engage the stretch of cloth between the two tensioningmembers.

at. The combination with cloth unwinding and rewinding elements, of atension equalizer embracing a cloth-engaging roll mounted to swing aboutan axis transverse to the travel of the cloth, and a tensioning memberhaving operative connection with the equalizer to exert a yieldingstress in a direction radial to the transverse axis and thereby normallymaintain the roll in a predetermined position, while allowing it toswing away from such position with increasing resistance, substantiallyas described.

5. The'combination with cloth unwinding and rewinding elements, of anassociated tension equalizer embracing a transverse clothengaging rolland a pair of pivotal arms mounted to swing about a common axis,tensioning springs, tensioning levers operatively connected with saidsprings and links interconnecting said levers with the aforesaid pivotalarms and arranged to exert a yielding pull onsaid arms in a directionradial to the axis of said arms.

6. A tensioning equalizer for cloth winding machines, embracing a pairof swinging side arms pivoted on a common axis, a transverseclothengaging roll mounted in the free ends of said arms, and tensioningsprings operatively connected with said arms to exert an outward pull ina direction radial to said axis to normally maintain said roll in apredetermined position while allowing it to yield to increased pull ofthe cloth being wound.

7. In a machine for winding cloth, the combination with upright sideframes and transverse connecting rods forming parallel tracks for amovable tail-carriage, of a rotatable core member detachably supportedat its opposite ends by rotatable end shafts, one of said end shaftshaving a supporting tail-carriage comprising a vertical arm slidablymounted on said track rods, and an angle arm extending laterally andthen forwardly-from said vertical arm to enable it to project beyond theadjacent side frame and having at its proj ecting end a bearing for oneof said shafts.

8. In a machine for rewinding cloth, the combination with upright sideframes having cross-connecting track rods, of rotatable and extensibleunwinding and rewinding elements each supported by rotatable end shaftsone of which is mounted in a carriage slidably mounted on the trackrods, and having a bearing arm laterally offset and forwardly projectingfrom the track-engaging portion to provide a bearing that is adjustableto a position substantially beyond the outside of the adjacent sideframe.

9. In a rewinding machine, the combination with extensible rotatableunwinding and rewinding elements arranged respectively to support apackage of cloth to be unwound and to rewind said cloth into a newpackage of desired size, of driving means for rotating the rewindingelement, and a hand-actuated member for operating said driving means,said hand-actuated member being applicable to different parts of thedriving means to compensate for different sizes of winding elements.

10. In a cloth winding machine, the combination with upright side frameshaving supporting arms projecting forwardly from its lower portion andanother pair of supporting arms projecting forwardly from its upperportion, an unwinding element comprising rotatable spaced holding jawsmounted in one pair of arms, a winding element comprising rotatable jawsmounted in the other pair of arms, a cloth-engaging drum mounted at thetop of said side frames, and means for rotating the winding element,substantially as described.

11. In a machine for rewinding cloth the combination with an uprightframe of two coordinated reels rotatably supported by said frame oneabove the other, each comprising a pair of axially aligned adjustablyspaced holders for revolubly supporting a cloth package, a rotatabledrum arranged above the upper reel in position to engage and support thecloth passing over it as the cloth unwinds from one reel and passesdownward to be wound upon the other reel, and means for rotating thelatter reel, said drum being rotated by frictional engagement with thecloth pass- 1ng over it.

In witness whereof, I have subscribed the above specification.

CHARLES G. RICHARDSON.

